A lot has changed since Helen Tarrant moved to Lake Cathie in the 1950s. Helen was 15-years-old at the time and said there was no water or electricity.

Times were tough and as the eldest of eight children, Helen said the bath water was always pretty murky by her turn - which came last.

Helen's family moved to Lake Cathie from Wauchope. As most of the children in her family still had to attend school, her father would drive a group to Wauchope school from Lake Cathie.

There was no bridge, so it was a bumpy and long ride for the kids each morning and afternoon.

Helen said in those days there were not even a dozen families who would have lived at Lake Cathie, as most people owned holiday cottages.

The children would spend their days swimming and Helen remembers collecting worms which would be sold as fishing bait by her mother.

There would be music nights where the community would come together for a singalong.

Helen said the Pead family were instrumental in setting up the Lake Cathie community, being the first residents to settle in the village.

When Helen was a teenager, a group would swim over to an island, situated in the lake.

They built a wooden cubby house, a tradition which children in the 80s would continue.

Lisa Willows grew up up at Lake Cathie in the 80s and said a group of kids would camp on the island beside Kenwood Drive.

"We built cubby houses and campfires. We would swim, fish and pretend we were stuck on a deserted island," she said.

"The boys and girls would hide their cubbies from each other."

The meeting place for all the kids in the 80s was at the local shop, where they often enjoyed eating hot chips.

Lisa has fond memories of meeting the good looking tourists who visited the caravan park each year.

"We liked the teenage boys who came to town," she said.

Lynne Leayr was the owner of the Lake Cathie caravan park for 22 years from 1972.

She said the caravan park became a favourite place for many families and friends. They met each year at the destination. Many residents of Lake Cathie also formed life long friends through the park.

The caravan park was always booked out, even if the lake was closed, Lynne said.

"We never had anyone cancel because the lake wasn't open," she said.

People enjoyed swimming at the lake, fishing and surfing at the beach.

The water throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s was very deep.

"To swim across the lake was hard work," Lynne said.

At times, especially when the lake was closed, there would be a current pushing hard across parts of the water body.

The residents said they all tried to touch the bottom of the lake but were mostly unsuccessful.

Residents also described the mud around parts of the lake as being like quicksand.

Resident Sue East said in the early days there was only one track to the lake, which was situated at the corner of Aqua Crescent and Bundella Avenue.

At the age of six-years-old Sue would stay with her family at 10 Aqua Crescent, which was a two bedroom fishing shack.

"The soil was lightly packed at the front of the shack and if there was rain it quickly turned to quicksand," she said.

Sue lost many thongs in the quicksand, which she said would be present most of the way to the lake's edge.

In the 80s, Lisa and her friends would go "mud skating" in the flats beside Kenwood Drive.

"The mud was slippery when the tide went down. We slid like we were on roller skates and got completely covered in mud," she said.

Sue has fond memories of her family's successful prawning ventures. A large haul would feed the family, neighbours and friends for a few days.

The was also a rope which hung from a tree and leaned out across the water.

"This rope was replaced many times across generations," Sue said.

Lisa said she remembers swinging into the lake with her friends and then carefully avoiding an octopus (located on a rock) while climbing out for another turn.

John Drewitt has lived in the area for about 50 years since he was 29-years-old.

He said people would spend their holidays in their swimmers and alternate swims between the beach and the lake.

John said Lake Cathie has always been a great sporting town and remembers people used to play touch footy at the back of his property.

"It was such a free area for the kids," he said.

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